This story has a happy ending. (An R5 Fanfiction)

Chapter 8

She must know.

The only reason Melonie could have for blowing Ross off is that she found out he was keeping his identity a secret from her.

Ross has been texting Melonie for three days and she hasn't responded once. He's left her messages and tried calling her on Skype but she's completely giving him the cold shoulder. It's killing him that he can't talk to her or explain himself.

The beginning of tour was shaky enough when Ross was keeping secrets from Melonie but now that he can't even talk to her it's torture. Crowds of people screaming his name used to give Ross a rush that he can't even begin to explain but now it makes him sad. Only two months and three weeks until he can get back to California and confront Melonie. Maybe if he explains why he lied she'll forgive him. Or they can at least say a proper goodbye.

But Ross doesn't even know Melonie's address. He might be able to give an autograph to a nurse for her grandkid as bribery but hospitals are usually serious about confidentiality.

Maybe Melonie just needs some time to think things through. If Ross gives her space and cuts back on his desperate attempts at reaching her she might decide to forgive him. Hopefully.

"What's wrong?" Rocky asks, plopping down next to Ross on the tour bus couch. Ross, usually talkative, hasn't said much since Melonie stopped responding to his messages. His family is starting to worry. It's gotten so bad that Ross is barely talking on stage. He sings his songs but lets the rest of the band talk with the audience. Even the fans are starting to notice that something is wrong with him but no one knows what it is. His family doesn't even know, not really. They knew about Melonie but they had no idea just how deep his feelings for her were. Are. If they did, they would probably have made him cut ties with her. Falling in love is too dangerous when you lead a nomadic singing and acting life like Ross does. Unless you're falling in love with someone who leads the same kind of life, which Melonie does not.

Ross hands Rocky his phone. "Can you take this, please? I'm going to go insane if I keep waiting for a message."

"Girl trouble?"

Ross leans back and smacks his head against the window. "Ugh. Ouch." He sits forward again and sighs. "Melonie and I were doing fine, or so I thought. But a few days ago she just stopped responding to my texts and she didn't pick up when I tried to skype her at our usual time. I think she might have found out who I am and..." He trails off, lost in thought. Why didn't he just tell the truth right away? Melonie still would have liked him. She doesn't seem like the type to care about fame or whatever.

Rocky puts a comforting arm around his brother. "I'm sorry man. But come on, you need to get your shit together. She's just a girl."

Ross nods but he doesn't believe any of it. If Melonie was just a girl it wouldn't hurt this much to have her give him the silent treatment.

With Rocky holding on to Ross's phone, Ross feels a little lost but better at the same time. He doesn't ask for it back until three weeks later, and that's only because he might be getting calls about different auditions he had done before they left on tour. Music is a huge part of Ross's life but he doesn't want to give up acting to be a musician full time. It's too much fun pretending to be someone else. Sometimes he prefers playing a role to real life. It's so much easier having a script and knowing exactly what page everyone is on.

It would be a lie to say Ross has forgotten about Melonie since they stopped speaking a month earlier. In fact, he still thinks of her every day. Now that he's got his phone back he decides it's time to try contacting her again. There are still two months left of tour and while he's been enjoying it a little more than he had been but he's still not quite up to his usual self. Ross knows that talking to Melonie again will make tour so much better, not just for him but for his bandmates and his fans. He doesn't like worrying everyone the way he knows he has been.

Much to Ross's surprise, Melonie answers on the first ring when he calls. "Hey!" he says excitedly. "Are you okay? You've been ignoring me. What did I do?"

There's silence on the other end, and then, "who is this?" It's a woman speaking but it's not Melonie.

Ross gulps. "It's, uh, Ross."

"Oh, Ross. The guy from the hospital," the woman says. "I'm sorry, Melonie can't talk right now."

For some reason the voice sounds thick like she's been crying. Ross wants to ask what's wrong but he knows that's not appropriate. "That's okay," Ross says even though it's not. He's dying to talk to Melonie. "Can you, uh, tell her that I called and that I'd really like her to call me back? She's been ignoring me and I'm not sure what I did wrong..."

The woman sighs. "You didn't do anything wrong," she assures him. "Melonie has been having some... health issues, lately."

"Yeah I knew she had the flu but I figured she would be better by now."

"The flu?" the woman asks, clearly confused. "Sweetie, Melonie has never had the flu in her life. She has..."

But Ross doesn't hear what the woman says because there's a yell that sounds suspiciously like Melonie and then suddenly the line has gone dead.

The call was supposed to fix everything but instead Ross only has more questions. Starting with, if Melonie never had the flu, why was she in the hospital?

And why did she lie to Ross about it?